Tesla has reportedly canceled orders for the Model 3 Performance in Australia shortly after the sales launch of the facelifted Model 3 in the country.
Several prospective owners of the Model 3 Performance have taken to the Tesla Owners Australia Facebook group to complain that their orders for the flagship variant have been canceled.
“Unfortunately, Performance is not currently available, and we are unable to complete your Model 3 order,” reads one message from Tesla shared on the group and picked up by Car Expert.
The company asked customers to choose another vehicle and said it would offer them “priority matching.” The most logical alternative would be the larger Model Y Performance, but the facelifted Model 3 RWD or Long Range can also be chosen. Customers also have the option of picking up a pre-update Model 3 Performance that’s currently in Tesla’s inventory.
Having your vehicle order canceled is certainly not pleasant, but the fact Tesla did this leaves a question mark hanging over the Model 3 Performance. What does it actually mean?
Well, there are two obvious possibilities. It could simply mean that the Model 3 Performance will be introduced at a later date after the launch of the updated Model 3 RWD and Long Range variants, or it could get the axe.
If the latter is true, the new Model 3 Long Range would make a reasonable replacement as it delivers a brisk 0-62 mph acceleration time of 4.4 seconds – 1.1 seconds slower than the Performance.
Looking at Tesla‘s online configurator in some of the countries the new Model 3 has launched today, the Model 3 Performance is nowhere to be seen. This doesn’t rule out the possibility of it launching later on, but it doesn’t rule out the possibility of it never coming back either. The bottom line is it would be nice for buyers to know what plans Tesla has with the Model 3 Performance.
Who knows, maybe the automaker will continue to offer a performance variant of the Model 3, only with a different name. How does Tesla Model 3 Plaid sound to you?
